The temperature in the shade is 43C or 110F, not a drop of breeze in the air. What happens to the Baku gale? For two days, my town has been steamy hot like hell. In the afternoon, the entire street is deserted. You can find men, cats, dogs, chickens, ducks, cab drivers and street cleaning ladies all squat under a tree, any tree they could find just to escape the unbearable muggy heat. Maybe it is coincident; the authority decides to cut off running water from 10am to 7pm, so you have to clean yourself with your own sweat.
Days like this, you should stay away from local buses, walk rather than sit inside a crowded minibus with smelly Azeri men for they do not believe in taking shower everyday, even in a boiling hot summer. Most buses have air-condition, but they never intended to be used. If you try to open the window, the old lady sits next to you would order you to SHUT the window. If you refuse, someone would shame you. How could you offend an old lady! “Don’t you have a grandmother at home!” they said.
After running, I pass by a store to get a cold drink; sorry, the refrigerator is only for show. The drink is not cold, even the beer is hot. “You will catch a cold if you drink cold water” the store owner tells me. Now, I understand why those men in the tea house would drink HOT tea even they are soaking wet from the hot sun, why my co-workers roll their eyes when I told them I took cold shower in the summer, and why water melon is not chilled to eat, and why little babies are all wrapped up with layer of blankets in summer, BUT BUT BUT, they all love ice cream. Isn’t ice cream cold? They swim in the Caspian Sea, isn’t the sea water cold?
Would someone please explain all these to me?
(These kids are from my neighborhood, I love them, they are all out of school and love to say Hello! Hello! Hello! to me. )
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